03 Nov
NaBloPoMo (and the first recipes)
Whitney reminded me that it is NaBloPoMo! So I didn’t technically post on this blog on November 1st, but I posted on That Bride and the rules are “Post every day for a month” so I figure I can still count myself as successful.
As Ethidium Bromide recently began doing, I’m going to start posting some recipes. Not because I actually know how to cook. No, I am doing it because I love broadcasting all of my mistakes to you, my dear readers (I hope there will be a few successes as well).
My first cooking attempts were from my two favorite blogs, Coconut & Lime and Bakerella.
My chowder:
Thoughts on my chowder:
Why is mine orangey/green and hers is white? I have absolutely no idea. Maybe she only blended her cauliflower, but I blended everything except the broccoli and potatoes. I really liked it that way.
A little bit of salt ground on top made it so good.
That bread you see in the background is Asiago cheese bread. I could eat it with every meal.
Pumpkin Pecan Chocolate Chunk Cookies With Maple Brown Butter Frosting
My cookies:
Thoughts on my cookies:
I used 72% dark chocolate chunks. Although a good choice, I put too many inside and they overpower the pumpkin. That Husband likes it though because he doesn’t like pumpkin that much.
The frosting was delicious, but a failure compared to that fluffy stuff Bakerella made. Maybe it’s because I used margarine (filled with trans fat, ooops!) instead of butter.
Why are my cookies oblong and shaped all funny? And hers are perfectly round? What is the secret to this roundness?
Do not eat one of these and then try to eat an apple. It just doesn’t work.
Things I learned overall:
I want a new camera. A fancy pants DSLR.
I want to live somewhere with better lighting.
I should start cooking in the middle of the day in order to have better lighting.
I should try not to be sad when my food doesn’t look exactly like that of the pros. (Hey, I consider these bloggers to be pros okay?)
Should you make the soup? Yes!
Should you make the cookies? Yes!
Also:
I'm a farm-raised almost-crunchy stroller-pushing picture-taking lifestyle-blog-writing gastronomy-obsessed divine-seeking thrift-store-combing cheese-inhaling pavement-pounding laughter-sprinkling lover of individuality and taking chances.
The vegetable chowder looks delish (and your green version actually looks more tempting).
And I, too, really want to get an SLR camera. I very very nearly purchased one, secondhand, but in amazing shape, from a local photographer who upgraded. And on the day I was calling her up to commit, there was a big financial mishap with my MIL, and we had to bail her out. Thus, I could not also justify spending money on the camera on the same day. Sad.
Perhaps it is a sign that when Husband is $250,000+ in debt from medical school, one should not be buying SLR cameras. Also sad. 
1mmmm…. those look yummy. You’re making me hungry! Have you tried using a desk lamp to add more light?
As for the perfect looking food from the pros - that’s what they spend a large protion of their time doing so it should look good
I think my worst icing was icing that I once tried making completely dairy free (so basically margerine, water and icing sugar) from a butter icing recipe. It was really runny, a weird texture and translucent. Not good.
2On the cookie note, when baking, you should never really change the basic ingredients. My favorite explanation is that baking is like chemistry- you can’t change the formula unless you want a different compound!
Yes, I’m a nerd, I can’t help it.
nablopomo sounds like another awesome excuse to be addicted to blogging. I can totally accomplish that! There was no November 1 post for me, but I’ll just consider it nablopomo -1!
Oh, and seriously, who DOESN’T want an SLR? drool.
3Ha, love your “lessons learned”! And I’m determined to make soup sometime this winter, so may have to give the vegetable chowder a try….
4Love it! I promise that if (and when) I try to duplicate these recipes, mine will not be the beauty contest winners. Keep cooking!
5i love this blog of yours! i love your writing and you always make me laugh.
i want to make these cookies! that icing looks amazing…
6These both look so good, I’m stealing the recipes now! Oh, and the secret to round cookies? Try using and ice cream scooper.
7xoxo
Your chowder looks like my pesto….hmmm. Need the cookie recipe without frosting.
8Julie-I know it’s important to be patient about making such big purchases, it’s just really hard to do.
Bean-I started checking out desk lamps today! I will have to research what will be the best lightbulbs to put inside as well. Oh That Husband is going to love me whipping out a desk lap at dinner time to take pictures each time we sit down to eat.
kaymarie-I know, I know. It’s just hard to take all that saturated fat!
Tara-I am now in love with making soup! It’s so easy to reheat and eat for lunch.
Benita-3 days later it is still amazing.
Michelle-I did! I think I need to try to create smaller cookies a nd be a little less messy with my scooping. TH helped do some of them as well, which might be the reason behind some of the messiness.
Why don’t you want the frosting? It’s so delicious!
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